Caracas, Venezuela, Nov 3, 2003 / 22:00 pm
Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, issued a statement this week denouncing the damage done to the Archdiocesan Cathedral by a group of homosexual activists, who smeared the front wall of the church with insults against Catholics.
Last weekend the Argentinean version of the so-called “Gay Pride Parade” brought together 4,000 transvestites, lesbians and homosexuals for a march through the main streets of the capital city. Homosexual activists carried out threats they had made earlier that they intended to defame the Cathedral of the Archdiocese.
Cardinal Bergoglio denounced the actions and said, “In a pluralist society, when minority groups wish to express themselves, it seems logical they would do so respecting the religious feelings of the majority. If the majority of people here are Catholic, the graffiti smeared all over the exterior of the Cathedral is an offense against the religious sensibilities of the Argentinean people.”
He also lamented the “lack of respect for a church which, besides being a place of worship and belonging to Catholics, has been a privileged witness to the history of Argentineans, and is a National Historical Monument where our founding father is buried. Therefore this violent attitude helps deteriorate a public, religious and historical building which ought to be restored again.”